There are lots of nice things about the fall season, but the changing leaves are my favorite. Unfortunately, we don’t really see the leaves change color much in Florida (so instead I remember the year we lived in North Carolina and enjoyed the gorgeous colors of that beautiful fall). But even so, we can always read books about fall!

My seven year old daughter (starting second grade) has turned into a bookworm! It is so fun to see her curled up in a comfy chair devouring a book. She has discovered the joy of a good book series, and thankfully we have been able to keep her well-supplied in books from the local library. Here are the book series that she has enjoyed reading so far this year:

One of our new favorite picture book author/illustrator is David Ezra Stein. The first book of his that we read was Interrupting Chicken, which was a 2011 Caldecott Honor Book. We loved it so much it has been added to our permanent family library.We later read Pouch and Leaves, and found them to be equally charming.

Ol’ Mama Squirrel is great fun.

This week we read Dinosaur Kisses, and now dinosaur kisses have been added to our bedtime routine (goodnight kiss, butterfly kiss, dinosaur kiss).

David Ezra Stein is definitely an author we will keep our eye on, and we look forward to reading more of his books!

When the Ant Bug was younger, I set a goal to read all of the Caldecott Medal winning books. We read a few each month and we finished the list in February of 2010. You can see my list of favorites here. Now it is five years later, and this summer we are reading the recent winners and reviewing our favorites.

2015: The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat (Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.)

2010: The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown and Company)

All of the winners were enjoyable, with great illustrations, of course. We have read and enjoyed A Sick Day for Amos McGee a few times in the past, and I think The Adventures of Beekle will make it on our re-read favorites list.

My children love to read (and be read to), so getting them to read books in the summertime is not a difficult thing. But new books are always exciting, and I wanted to expand their reading selections a little bit. So the last day of school my children came home to find…their very own book nook! I rearranged some of our shelves a little bit, so each child has a cubby to store their books and reading logs in. I gave each child a few novels to try, as well as a non-fiction book and a poetry book.

Here is what you will currently find on their shelves.

Anwyn (10 years old)

It’s Raining Pigs & Noodles by Jack Prelutsky (poetry)

National Geographic 2016 Kids Almanac (non-fiction)

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Book 1 in the Percy Jackson series)

The 39 Clues: The Sword Thief (she is currently on book 3 of this series)

Zach (5 years old): he is not yet reading independently, although we are making great progress in his reading lessons. Summertime is a great time to re-read our favorite picture books, so I checked out some classics that we love. Here are just a few currently on his shelf.

Actual Size by Steve Jenkins (non-fiction)

Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson

Read Aloud

Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary: Lily, Zach, and I are reading this book together

Magic Elizabeth by Norma Kassirer: Anwyn and Lily and I are reading this together. This was my favorite book as a young girl, so it is fun to share it with my own girls now.

My Shelf

A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (the third Flavia de Luce mystery)

Who Really Cares: America’s Charity Divide: Who Gives, Who Doesn’t, and Why It Matters by Arthur C. Brooks

We love to read books at our house. My husband and I are both avid readers, and thankfully our children have inherited/developed the same trait. I have posted a number of our book recommendations over the years, so I recently created a reference page that brings everything together in one page for you. At the top of this blog heading you will find a link called “Book Lists“. Go check it out! Some things you will find there include:

We love to visit the Book Fair whenever it comes to our school. I think books are a great thing for my children to spend their allowance money on! Today I am sharing five great picture books that we have discovered at the book fair. All five are family favorites to read: clever and funny with great illustrations!

The first day of Spring has passed, and Easter is just a few days off, so it is time for a little spring reading! In the spring we also like to read our favorite bunny and duckling books.

A classic favorite is Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, and a new favorite is Lucky Ducklings by Eva Moore.Our list has mostly stayed the same this year, so go back to my post in 2013 for our complete list of Books for Spring and Easter.